My maternal grandfather, William Robert Franklin (d. 10 July 1971), was one, presumably the oldest, of three brothers (the other two being Ronald and Norman; I have no middle names given for them) who were sons of Robert Harold Franklin (1884-1969) and Nellie May Shipton (1888-1966). Robert had a brother named Charles, about whom I know nothing else, and their parents were William Jesse Franklin (1847-1935, immediate ancestors unknown) and Emma Yates. This is from a pedigree fragment drawn up by William Robert's brother Ronald for one of my older cousins; I have been able to find nothing official, despite most (if not all) individuals involved being born over 100 years ago. I know that his brothers have living descendants, but I have not yet been able to establish (or re-establish) contact with any of them.

The hearsay pedigree I have mentions an Aaron Franklin who married an unnamed woman from France, but it is unclear whether they are William Jesse's parents or more distant relations. Then there is a big gap, but Aaron is supposed to be the descendant of a John Henry Franklin (1541-1595) who had three sons: two named John and a third named Edwin. It is unclear as to which son Aaron is descended through.

Either my search-fu is pathetic, or I'm not looking in the right places, or the information does not exist online (or has been lost entirely). Hopefully someone else here is also a descendant of one of these Franklins and can help me out; many thanks in advance.

The aforementioned Cuckoo Oak and its connection to this Franklin family is described here.

Not sure if it's any help, but found this online; There is an Edward Franklin (Franklin, Edward) listed as a Boot & Shoemaker in Iron Bridge found in Pigot and co.'s national commercial directory for 1828-9 (p673)Iron Bridge (now Ironbridge) is a couple of miles from where Cukoo Oak pub was situated in Madeley, and is located on the river Severn, which at that time was being used as trade route to Bristol docks for export.

There does seem to have been a lot of mobility of trades following following the increases in employment along the river path (due to the industrial revolution) at that time, as I have found from my ancestors.China (Worcester, Coalport) Iron (Coalbrookdale)

Thanks for the response, Martyn. I'm clearly going to have to get other people to do my online searches for me, because I'm still coming up empty even with this new information. Hopefully I hear back from my aunt with some more details in the next few days.

Edit: I've found the directory online for the years you mentioned, and considering the page count, having the page number helps greatly. Thanks again.

FindMyPast has a lot of the information you need. See attached GenoPro fileIn addition their passenger lists show Robert went to India, twice, before the family left on 24th May 1929 from Liverpool to Quebec.The individual record shown below is a death record, which I assume is his.The family could almost certainly found in the 1930 & 1940 US census, eg FamilySearch.org

Many thanks, appleshaw! Finding data in the census has been an issue for me; it seems that every time I find something relevant, it's behind a paywall, and right now (being unemployed with a disability application pending) I can't afford website subscriptions, particularly at the rates some of them charge. Census data in particular should be in the public domain after its release.

Jakkhttps://familysearch.org/ has the US censuses and is free. I had a look for Robert Harold but second names are not given and there were several possible. Not knowing which states were involved I gave up here. However I looked for Nellie and found a death record from Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada in 1965 and looking at the image this was reported by her son Ronald. No mention of husband.Searching for Ronald leads to a Canadian marriage and the certificate gives his father as Albert Harold Franklin, which suggests that he knew him as Bert.freebmd.org.uk is, as the name says, a free site of English/Welsh birth marriage and death records.This should provide a date for the marriage of Nellie's parents, Joseph and Sarah Atkins

It shows Jesse Franklin, wife Emma Millicent Franklin and son Charles Henry Franklin. in England & Wales Census 1881.Also, in the 1891 census with another son, Robert H Franklin, and in 1901 census Jesse, Emma and Robert

It's probably worth researching further on Familysearch.org, as you may find more information.

Many thanks, appleshaw and Martyn! So it looks like Charles either died in adolescence or moved out on his own as soon as he could. The question becomes, which? Of course, it's his brother I'm more interested in. I'll try familysearch.org again and see what I can dig up. Thanks again!

freebmd.org.uk shows Charles Henry Franklin was born in the last quarter of 1877.Findmypast.co.uk has him on the 1911 census at 791 Stratford Road Sparkhill, Yardley, Warwickshire as a Carpenter. His wife isAnnie Franklin Wife Married Female Dressmaker 34 1877 Stoke Works Worcestershirethey had been married 11 years and at that time had no children.One intriguing addition is that they had a servant, Ethel Collins, who was recorded as being born in Appleshaw Berkshire; Appleshaw is in Hampshire but only a few miles out of Berkshire.

appleshaw (26-Apr-2016)One intriguing addition is that they had a servant, Ethel Collins, who was recorded as being born in Appleshaw Berkshire; Appleshaw is in Hampshire but only a few miles out of Berkshire.

In the context of your screen name: were Ethel's immediate relations then likely neighbours of members of your family? The mathematics and statistics of genealogy are as interesting as genealogy itself.